Monday, July 4, 2011

Review: Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

GoodReads Description:﻿

Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life. As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

My Review:

Desires of the Dead was just as good, if not better than the first book in the series, The Body Finder. I apologize in advance because this might be a long post. I tend to gush about the books I find fantastic and Kimberly Derting has created an original and creative spin on paranormals and psychics and that really shines in a market swamped with flat, unoriginal stories. She also has a really great sense of characterization, where each character has their own tangible voice, personality, opinions, and drives. I am a true lover of character development. There can be all the cool plot twists, evil villains, and shoot 'em up scenes you want, but if the characters don't pop off the page screaming their personalities to me, I tend to end the book dissatisfied. SO not the case here. I really really enjoy this series and I am super excited that the next book, The Last Echo, was finally unveiled this last week :)You can check out the blurb on most sites like Amazon and GoodReads.

Like the first book, the plot of Desires of the Dead was full of twists, slightly disturbing occurrences, cute and semi-steamy love story-ness, and fun storytelling. Again, you get to see the side of the story through the "murderer's" eyes occasionally, which adds tension and mystery throughout the novel. The emotional and relationship plot was cute, sweet, and believable. I thought Jay's hero worship of Violet's uncle was hilarious and combined with Violet's teasing nature made for a pretty great scene right in the beginning of the book."What are you two doing?" Her uncle's teasing voice came into the room before he did."Nothing your parents wouldn't approve of, I hope," he added.Violet flashed Jay a wicked grin. "We were just making out, so if you could make this quick, we'd really appreciate it." Jay jumped up from beside her. "She's kidding," he blurted out. "We weren't doing anything." Her uncle Stephen stopped where he was and eyed them both carefully. Violet could've sworn she felt Jay squirming, even though every single muscle in his body was frozen in place. Violet smiled at her uncle, trying her best to look guilty-as-charged. Finally he raised his eyebrows, every bit the suspicious police officer. "Your parents asked me to stop by and check on you on my way home. They won't be back until late. Can I trust the two of you here...alone?" he asked. "Of course you can-" Jay started to say

"Probably not-" Violet answered at the same time. "

And it also made me laugh when Violet and Jay used the code "doing homework" for fooling around. My friends and I thought we were so original when we came up with that back in high school. Now that I saw it in the book I realize how obvious we were. Really mom and dad, me and Dan are "doing homework" don't worry about it. Ha its surprising my parents didn't take my door off its hinges lol. I guess high-schoolers forever will be giving code names to making out, and hooking up, and doing other naughty things... and then expecting their parents to not get it. Kids forget that parents too, were in high school once and most likely did the same kinds of things they are doing now...ahah

Desires of the Dead was chock full of funny quotes and awesome scenes. There were only one or two things in the book that kind of bugged me. Violet and Jay's fight seems tad unrealistic. I don't want to give some of the plot away, but they end up having a disagreement over who killed an animal, and because Jay doesn’t believe that the person who Violet accuses would do something like that, they don't speak for like two weeks. Even in high school, I was never pigheaded enough to not talk to someone over having a different idea or opinion than I did, especially if I was having a disagreement with a guy I was in love with. I welcomed the difference in opinion because it gave me that much more insight into his character and life. Plus, there is NO WAY that in high school I could possibly ignore my boyfriend and best friend for more than like...a day. Whereas, Violet looks at her and Jay's disagreement as a huge betrayal, which I thought was rather over-dramatic.

Hahah that rhymes... Anyways, I guess I will have to wait and see what happens in The Last Echo. I believe I will give this book 9 Dead Kitty-Cats out of 10. A fantastic book that leaves me wanting more, without leaving an exasperating cliffhanger that drives me nuts.